The Acrobat
by siany
Summary: The team is charged with protecting Haley's Circus from Zucco looking for revenge. Who is this mysterious boy everyone keeps running into? (AU, GEN, Dick stayed with the circus.)


"...as such we're assigning Young Justice as guards for Haley's Circus. Your team will also patrol the town in the hours leading up to the performance, looking for any clues as to the whereabouts of his hideout." Batman's face was stern on the screen. "With Anthony Zucco at large and making threats, we need to take the necessary precautions to assure that he does not attempt to extract revenge for his incarceration."

Aqualad nodded once, firmly. "Yes sir."

"Further information and the required equipment is being organised by Black Canary. She will meet you in the hanger at 0800 tomorrow morning; don't be late. Batman out." The screen went dark, and Kaldur relaxed a little now that he wasn't being watched.

Young Justice hadn't been around very long, but they were slowly being given more responsibility. Tomorrow's mission would be their longest - an overnight affair. The last time Haley's Circus came to Gotham, their lead attraction had been murdered. The perpetrator, Tony Zucco, had been caught and sentenced to life in prison, but a mass breakout lead by the Joker himself had resulted to the man's freedom. Now it seemed he really did want revenge, sending death threats to the owner.

This was the most directly they'd been in charge of lives. As far as Kaldur was concerned failure was not an option. He went to inform his teammates of their newest mission.

* * *

Mr Haley was a short, balding man who looked to be one more stress point away from a heart attack. Still he was polite and gratefully towards them even if he did look like he wanted to ask why the Justice League had sent kids.

Aqualad had gone through some of their protection plans for the performance, including thorough checks of the equipment for the acts that left the ground. They would carry these out and even if it took some of the thrill out of the performance, the trapeze artists would be working with a net at all times. Kaldur was even to work in the ticketing booth to keep an eye out for Zucco or any of his known accomplices.

"The Grayson's were great people..." Mused Haley sadly. "Their son is every bit as talented as they were. I don't want to lose him too. I owe it to them to keep him safe."

"The Flying Graysons were the ones murdered last time, yes? They had a son?"

"He became a ward of the state when his parents were killed... He must have run away from the orphanage though because about half a year later he turned up while we were doing a show in Kansas. No idea how he got all the way to Kansas from Gotham but he's nothing if not resourceful. Our bearded lady, Beatrice, took him in and he's been with us again ever since. Figure he should've been with family from the start but the state wouldn't let us keep him at the time." Haley sighed and stood up to show Aqualad to the door. "My apologies but there is much I must see to before the show."

"It is quite alright. I, too, have other tasks I must complete. I will see you tonight, Mr Haley." They nodded to one another and Kaldur left.

He was navigating the village of caravans when he first spotted the dark figure trailing him. Kaldur kept his pace level and didn't look around anymore than he had been. He began to slowly work his way back into the makeshift town, watching the figure out of the corner of his eye. It was lithe and moved quickly but it was obvious the stealth had been mostly self-taught. He was following much too closely and obviously, even if the person was in the shadows.

Aqaulad had been going round in circles for five minutes without losing his tail before he turned around and decided to call out his stalker. When he turned, however he saw a shock of black hair and a small arm disappear around a corner. It was his turn to take chase, catching sight of a foot here, or an arm there but never actually catching up.

They streaked through the maze of caravans at a run now, and Kaldur was impressed despite himself. They rounded one more corner and his observer came into view.

It was a child! A young child at that. Dark hair and a small frame sprinted away, dexterous and fast. Kaldur was allowed no more than a glimpse as he rounded another corner. The youth followed but drew to a halt when he reached it. Not only was he back where he started, the child was gone, no sign of which way he went.

Kaldur laughed softly, amused that he had allowed himself to be given the run around by such a small boy. It wasn't a threat. He also had his suspicions that he knew just who that child had been. There was no time to chase down that mystery now, though; he had other things to do.

Kaldur left the circus with a smile on his face and renewed determination.

* * *

"Well, well, well, what do we 'ave 'ere?"

Wally groaned and slowed to a stop. His path was blocked by two massive youths and there was no way around them without using his powers. Apparently they were supposed to be under cover pretty deep and he was in his civvies in any case... so, no escape. Figures his patrol rout would take him into bully territory.

The one who'd spoken elbowed his friend in the ribs conspiratorially. "What's say we see if the ranga has anything worth our while, eh? Pretty puny but ya never know; he might be fun or sumfink."

Wally felt his cheeks burn hot and he tried to tune them out as he began to work his way back the way he'd come. It always frustrated him to no end that while he had these kick ass awesome powers and people actually admired him when he was in costume, outside of it he was stunningly average. Actually average would have been nice; Wally was skinny, had freckles, pale skin, -and- red hair. Not entirely the best package to blend in while you're a teenager with limbs growing at an uneven pace to the rest of your body. At least he didn't have glasses or braces; that would have just been the icing on the cake for the bullies.

A train went by overhead, rumbling the underpass and its metal frame roof.

"Hey Pinhead, Numbnuts! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The bullies turned to face whoever had the balls to interrupt them; inadvertently giving Wally a good view of his would be defender. The kid was puny! Even smaller than he was and he couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen. He was skinny with dark hair and stunningly blue eyes, narrowed in a mocking glare. His lips curved in a self assured smirk as he stepped between the pair of teenagers almost twice his size.

"You mean you or som'ing? You ain't half the size of one of us. Scram Dipshit, unless you want what he's getting." The aptly named 'Pinhead' (his head -was- abnormally small) growled and jerked his undersized head at Wally. The equally appropriately named 'Numbnuts' nodded along stupidly.

Instead of any normal reaction, the kid's grin just got larger, if that was at all possible. Wally wanted to tell the kid to run, but he was frozen in place, too shocked at his gall in standing up to the massive tyrants.

His smirk and silence quickly had the bullies enraged. Wally could almost see their patience wearing thin. Then the kid, of all things, blew a raspberry at Numbnuts.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The youth roared and drew back his fist. Wally was about to move and help, even if it meant blowing cover, but in the blink of an eye the kid jumped and threaded his hand into one of the small holes in the support of the bridge. He drew his legs up and Numbnuts' fist connected squarely with Pinhead's tiny jaw.

Wally's own jaw fell open as the black haired boy fell back to the ground landing perfectly in a crouch. Pinhead raised his foot to stamp on him, but the kid rolled away and his foot landed on Numbnuts', who hollered in pain and hopped around trying to clutch at it but not really succeeding.

Through a series of jumps, cartwheels, handstands and actually running up the side of the wall then flipping back over their heads (which had the two bullies running into said wall), the kid evaded every single blow until, amazingly, the teens started to argue amongst themselves.

"Watch what you're doing Travis!" Yelled Pinhead.

To which Numbnuts (whom Wally was amazed could talk, even if he did sound like a troll) retorted, "You keep hitting me!"

One final duck, in which both boys punched each other in the face, and they were fighting for real. Angry insults and guttural growls echoed around the underpass as they grappled.

Wally was so mesmerised (in a train wreck sort of way) that he didn't notice the kid until he grabbed his wrist and added an echoing laugh to the sounds of the fight as they fled. "Well what do you know; they did what I told them to!" He said gleefully.

They ran three blocks until they were back out on the street and in light pedestrian traffic. A large clock decorated one of the older looking buildings and Wally glanced at it; four in the afternoon.

The kid seemed to see it too and before Wally had the chance to gather his wits enough to speak, he was already turning to go. "Oh crap, it's already this late?! I have to get back - nice to meet ya, see ya!" Then he was gone, evaporating in the crowd as if he hadn't been there at all.

Wally stared after him long after he'd disappeared from view.

"What just happened?"

* * *

M'gann giggled to herself and took a packet of chocolate chips down from the shelf to add to her basket. The Justice League had set them up in a hotel for their overnight mission and it had a fully furnished kitchen complete with baking trays. The moment she'd seen them, the urge to make cookies had hit her.

The recipe of this particular chocolate chip biscuit had long since been memorised. So it was just a matter of a quick detour to the supermarket on her patrol rout and she could get to it when they met back up later.

Eggs, check, flour, check, butter, check, sugar (definitely not salt, check)... With a happy smile M'gann went to pay for her purchases.

The lady checking through her items smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry Miss; we're out of plastic bags."

"Oh..." M'gann looked down at her purchases, then back up to the woman. "That's alright. I don't have far to go so I can just carry them."

Normally M'gann wouldn't have volunteered to carry so many things through crowds of people while she wasn't allowed to use her powers. She wasn't exactly the most observant pea in the pod and had the tendency to walk into things if she didn't pay attention. Still, like she said, she didn't have far left on her patrol and it wasn't too much of an armful.

Humming a random tune she went on her way.

It was two blocks from her hotel that M'gann rounded a corner and almost ran headlong into someone. Shrieking with surprise she tossed all her cooking supplies into the air, gasping in horror when she realised what she'd just done. She reached out uselessly then froze blinking in wonder.

The person she'd run into was a boy, probably pre-teen (though she still couldn't tell human ages with any sort of certainty) with dark hair and blue eyes. He was almost a whole head shorter than her. All these registered later, though. He stood on one leg, the bag of flour on his raised foot. In one hand he'd caught the sugar; the chocolate chips sagging over his shoulder. He even had the butter balanced precariously upright on his nose.

They stood like that for a long moment, then a giggle startled itself out of her mouth and she clapped her hands. The kid grinned and flicked his head. M'gann caught the butter and he bent down to rescue the flour so he could stand properly again.

Rather belatedly M'gann realised she was missing something and looked down. The eggs had hit the ground, and the cardboard was already being soaked through with its contents. Her heart sank along with her body as she dropped to her knees over the ruined food. She didn't have enough money left to buy more eggs -and- the dinner she would need later.

Her eyes pricked and she dropped the butter, burying her face in her hands.

"Hey, how many eggs did you need for what you were going to make?" asked the boy, voice close enough that he had to have knelt down beside her.

"Two." She responded, sounding utterly miserable.

A finger poked her in the forehead and she looked up, startled. The boy was still grinning, hands splayed open on either side of his head.

"Nothing in my hands." He said, then reached behind her ears. When his hands came back into view he held two slightly damaged but still intact eggs. He held them out to her, eyes flicking down to them then back up significantly. She took them and he emptied out the egg carton so she could return them to it.

M'gann laughed wetly. "Thank you!"

"Nothing to it." He said and got to his feet.

The boy helped her up, then loaded M'gann's groceries back into her arms.

"Gotta be more careful Miss...?"

"Megan." She answered without thinking.

"Megan. I hope your baking turns out as sweet as you are." He flashed another grin which made her blush. "Nice to meet you, Megan, but I gotta be going, bye!"

By the time she realised she hadn't asked his name, he was gone. M'gann continued back to base with a thoughtful smile on her lips... and being extra careful around corners.

* * *

It was starting to get dark and Superboy had been dragged to watch as people flocked to the enormous tent that was apparently required for a Circus to perform. He was only supposed to step in if there was a commotion or something. With keen eyes he scanned the crowd, hoping something would happen.

Superboy didn't know why they weren't just cancelling the show all together. Logically it was the simplest thing to do, putting everyone out of harm's way. Kid Flash and the others had tried to explain it, using phrases like 'the show must go on' and 'can't let the villains intimidate us'. Superboy still didn't get it. Lives were more important than a stupid show.

He glared down at his latest watch dog, Kid Flash. They kept insisting that he needed someone to stop him from doing something stupid. It made him so angry that no one seemed to trust him. It had been Superboy that had saved Kid Flash and Aqualad when they had broken him free. He had helped with all their missions. He hadn't given them any reason to still treat him this way!

A growl escaped his lips but it went unnoticed by his companion. Looking down at him again, Superboy noticed he was squeezing his legs together and dancing from foot to foot.

"Aw man I gotta pee!" Wally looked up at him, off into the distance than back up at him. "You'll be alright for a few minutes, yeah Supes? Hold down the fort while I'm gone." Then he -was- gone, a gust of wind the only thing to suggest he'd been there in the first place.

It wasn't actually better to be on his own, surrounded by so many people. Some of them (young girls mainly) seemed to be pointing at him and giggling. He caught snippets of whispers but didn't really understand much of what they said. He had a feeling he probably didn't want to. None of them actually approached him though, for which he was thankful.

Sweeping the crowd again, a person dressed in a bright, strange outfit caught his attention. This person was short and small, with a brightly coloured wig on and his face painted white. He bent over and handed something to a child. Superboy let his vision refocus and he saw it was some sort of transparent inflated piece of plastic in the vague shape of a flower. The little girl clapped and the brightly clothed human saluted her then stumbled away.

Superboy watched as the seemingly mute person went from small child to small child, producing things from blown up pieces of plastic. Balloons, his mind supplied, but the images that came along with it were generally round, not long and thin.

It took Superboy a moment to realise the person was heading towards him. Close up for real, he let himself focus on the human's face, much too round to be an adult, but not soft enough for a woman.

The young, human male look up at him with one arm across his chest to allow the other to rest on it, while a finger tapped his cheek; a thinking pose. He made an exaggerated movement that Superboy guessed was supposed to mean something like 'I have an idea', then he blew up some of the balloons and began twisting them. In moments the blue and red had been arranged into something that could only have been a crude version of Superman standing triumphant.

Superboy took it, though he wasn't entirely sure why. Actual age aside he wasn't one of the children this human had been previously handing these out to. Superman was still a raw subject with him, too. For a moment the anger resurfaced and his fingers clenched.

The Balloon Superman exploded.

Instead of being mad or afraid, the human boy made a show of pointing and laughing silently. Superboy was just starting to feel frustrated when he began on a new balloon sculpture. This time it was a dog. The youth stuck his thumb in his mouth and blew. The inflated bit on the end of the supposed tail went from the bottom to the top.

Scowling, Superboy took this one too, still not entirely sure why. The rubber squeaked under his fingers like it had while the human had been manipulating it. He tried to be careful with it, but in the end this one exploded too.

The human child resumed his thinking position, though his mute exclamation of an idea was much less dramatic this time. His lips slowly stretched into a massive grin, the red paint surrounding them making him look alien. It took him slightly longer to create his newest piece of art. When he did, Superboy just stared at it, unable to figure out what it was meant to be. It was a sort of yellow ring with spikes coming off it in an upwards direction.

The human tugged on his arm and it only took three tugs for Superboy to realise he wanted him to duck down. Reluctantly he did so. The brightly dressed youth lifted the balloon and placed it snugly on his head, pulling it down so it touched his ears. He gave it a few experimental twists then let Superboy go, batting Superboy's hands away when he tried to reach up and touch it.

Placing fisted hands on his hips the human boy seemed to be admiring his work. He nodded finally, then waved and was off, heading for a family on the other side of the courtyard.

"Hey sorry it took me so long, the line was huge so I zipped back to our hotel room but- Aw how come you get a Balloon Crown?" Kid Flash pouted and crossed his arms. "Kaldur told me the Balloon animals were just for the little kids."

Superboy had half expected Wally to laugh at him. He had no doubt he looked a little silly wearing the bright bit of plastic. That instead he was eyeing it jealously made him feel something strange, but not unpleasant.

Maybe there were some good reasons not to cancel the show after all.

* * *

Artemis nibbled on her chocolate chip biscuit, trying not to yawn. A circus was all well and good when it was a novelty, but when one saw these sort of stunts on a daily basis it kind of lost its charm. That and clowns gave her the creeps. Still she watched as they performed slapstick routines and embarrassed one another.

It was very tempting to let her focus wander to her companion. It was Artemis's turn to play babysitter for Superboy, since he was apparently too unreliable to leave on his own on a mission. She didn't mind the babysitting so much, but he -was- a rather tasty morsel. It was almost distracting.

"Why are those men wearing makeup and hitting each other?" Superboy looked captivated by the display, frowning. "Don't they realise people are laughing at them?"

Artemis snorted a quick laugh. "They're Clowns; the whole point is to make people laugh."

Superboy shot her a disbelieving look but left it at that. Perhaps Kid Flash could have another crack at the explanation later. He actually seemed to like clowns. -Perhaps he feels they're kindred spirits-, she thought and smirked.

The Big Top went dark and a drum roll began. The spotlight whirled wildly until it focused on two high platforms. Two people stood there, one on each end; the women waved to the crowd. They were dressed in identical bright red, orange and yellow costumes. Artemis couldn't tell for sure from here but it looked like they were twins.

"Introducing the Darting Duo, Mina and Tina Stuart!" announced the Ringleader to applause.

The pair of women began their act. Extra performers dressed in black helping.

Artemis's attention focused fully, eyes darting around between one black figure to the next. This was the act at most risk, the one that had been targeted last time. The net was in place and Miss Martian was stationed at one of its corners just in case something did go wrong as an extra failsafe.

A new figure suddenly jumped from the right platform to a collective gasp from the crowd. Artemis took a step but stopped herself. It was just a little kid! One of the women caught him and flipped him to her sister. While obviously not a part of the act, the delighted awe from the audience wasn't faked. The sisters winged it, including the youngster in their act like it was a common occurrence.

"Hey that's-" Superboy began but before he could say anything else, a gunshot rang out, rebounding off one of the ropes. It set the trapeze off kilter, swinging wildly and the woman gave up on holding on. She dropped safely into the waiting net. Her sister followed almost right after but the youth who had barged his way into their act flipped and swung back towards the platforms, trying to get off that way.

She couldn't spare any more thoughts for the kid. Everyone was screaming, flooding out of the tent in one big rush of people. Someone was going to get trampled at this rate.

"Miss Martian." Artemis heard Aqualad say in her ear via the com-link. "I know we said you should only use your powers on our enemies, but we need you to calm this crowd down or someone is going to get hurt!"

"A-alright..." Miss Martian was out of her field of vision but almost immediately the crowd stopped pushing so hard, starting filing out more evenly.

That worry aside, Artemis drew an arrow and began to scour the crowd for the perp.

Nearly everyone was out when she felt a hand close around her mouth and something cold and hard press to her head. Artemis froze, taking a deep, calming breath through her nose. There was a cut off yelp from across the room and she saw M'gann was in a similar situation.

Artemis could have kicked herself. How could she be so stupid! Superboy made a noise of distress somewhere to her right but she didn't try to turn her head to look. She liked having a head to turn, thank you very much.

The music that had accompanied the Darting Duo's act still rang out, adding a twisted background to the man who emerged from the shadows. How he'd hidden in them to begin with was a mystery; he was incredibly fat. He motioned with his gun.

Her goon jerked into movement and she stumbled. He growled something too thick with an accent to understand and shoved her. Artemis ended up standing next to M'gann, both of them still with guns to their heads. Her sister in arms looked terrified, still suffering the brunt of absorbing some of the crowd's panic, and Artemis had to shove down anger. She needed a cool head if they were going to get out of this one alive.

The fat man meandered his way towards them, flanked by a few more goons. Superboy, now in view, took a threatening step towards him. "Uh, uh, uh! I wouldn't do that if I were you." He pointed at the girls and Superboy back down, though he didn't look happy about it in the least.

"Zucco I presume." Artemis spoke up. If she could distract him long enough perhaps Kaldur could figure something out or Wally could rush in and save M'gann at least.

"So you've heard of me? Then again I'm pretty big around these parts."

'You're 'pretty big' period', she wanted to say but bit her tongue. Insulting his weight wouldn't help their chances. "Holding us hostage isn't going to help you. The police are on their way right now!" A flimsy protest; Gotham PD was almost as corrupt as Bludhaven.

Predictably Zucco scoffed. "The only thing in Gotham worth fearing is The Batman, but word on the street is he's off playing hero with the rest of those Justice League goody-two-shoes. All the better for me, eh? I get to mess with some amateur kids playing dress up."

Miss Martian whimpered beside her and Artemis hoped she hadn't tried to read the man's mind, what with the look he'd just given them. Perverted old man... "So is this really just revenge? You didn't ask for protection money this time round, just left death threats."

"Ah sweet revenge!" Zucco threw his tubby arms out dramatically. "I bet you expect me to just blurt out my evil scheme because I have you incapacitated. How many people actually do that now-a-days? I'm not going to leave for your executions either, nor am I going to set up some unwieldy death trap." Zucco turned his back on them, as he had started pacing.

Artemis's eyes darted around, trying to discern any possible escape or locate her missing teammates. However a loud thunk and the sound of a body hitting the floor interrupted her search. Her own guard turned to look at his fallen companion before he befell the same fate, crumpling to the floor next to the incapacitating sandbag. She didn't waste a second, grabbing a hold of Miss Martian's hand and running. They only had a moment or two before the shock wore off and the order to fire on them was given.

The same brat from before that had forced his way into the trapeze show fell onto the edge of the net and somersaulted off the edge to land a few feet ahead of them. "This way!" he yelled, darting off towards the performers' area of the tent.

M'gann gently pulled her hand free and took to the air. Artemis spun mid run to go backwards for a few steps. "Superboy!" she called and he stopped his rampage, bolting after them through the gunfire.

The kid led them outside, winding expertly through the caravans, cages and props. Artemis was just beginning to wonder if the boy was lost when he stopped. They had arrived at the single building that had been here before the circus had come to town. Carefully and nearly silently the kid began to scale the side of the brick building, using the drainpipe as a hold for his hands and the uneven surface of the wall for his feet. The building itself was two stories high with a flat roof; the perfect hiding place.

Superboy was the hardest to get onto the roof. The drainpipe creaked under his weight but with a little help from M'gann he was sitting up with the rest of them in no time. Moments later Wally and Kaldur appeared below and a quick hissed call down to them had them climbing up too.

Artemis had almost forgotten the kid was still there until he sniggered. "No one ever looks up. We should be safe here for the moment."

"Hey you're that kid from before!" M'gann and Wally said simultaneously, now that they weren't running for their lives.

The youth blinked and recognition lit his face, the upper half of which was covered by what looked like a black, cardboard party mask with green cellophane over the eye holes. "Oh yeah! How'd the baking turn out?" He grinned at M'gann, who blushed a little against her now green again skin and mutter something along the lines of 'good'. He didn't seem to notice this fact, but of course everyone would look green right now with his mask on. Where did he think he was? The Emerald city?

Kaldur watched the kid appraisingly while Wally waved his arms about enthusiastically. "He took down two massive guys without even touching them. Dodged so often the guys ended up fighting each other! Those are some epic moves you have there."

"No Problemo, all in a day's work." The kid said and they bumped fists.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks kid but-"

"You made me my balloon crown." Superboy interrupted her, pointing to his head where said object still rested despite being shot at and tussled with.

"Really! Hey, can you make me one? I never got a balloon animal when I was a kid!" Wally was practically vibrating with excitement.

"Sure, don't think now's the best time though. When we finish here I'll make you whatever you want."

Artemis had had enough. "Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean 'we'? You're a civilian; you're going to stay here where it's safe."

"You're going after Zucco, right? I want in and you can't stop me."

"I must agree with Artemis." Kaldur interceded before she could argue back. "You are Richard Grayson, are you not? You are one of the people we have come here to protect. I cannot allow you to be put in unnecessary danger."

"I just saved your butts!" Grayson at least had the presence of mind not to yell, though his hissed protest was vehement enough that it conveyed the same emotions. "Zucco killed my- Justice will be served. He should be back rotting in jail!"

"You haven't been trained for a combat situation. If you were to be injured..." Aqualad trailed off, looking to the others for support.

M'gann help up her hands and shook her head, startled. "I'm not going to take sides!"

"Two huge goons! Without touching them!" Wally threw his hands into the air then down sharply towards Grayson.

Superboy frowned, but didn't say anything.

Artemis smirked, her hand darting forward to grab the kid by the back of the neck. He spun almost as fast, though she was able to get a hold of him, fingers searching for the proper pressure points. Then she looked down at him.

At this distance she could make out his eyes properly. They were determined but wide and pleading, his brow furrowed in pain. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked down into those eyes, until she let her hand fall away. He needed this, she'd realised, needed it more than he needed to stay safe.

With a frustrated huff, she crossed her arms. "You're just going to follow us anyway. Don't really want to risk you falling off the roof if we knock you out either."

All eyes turned to Kaldur and he sighed. "Alright, I concede defeat. We need a plan. Zucco will have other hostages, probably Mr. Haley. We need to infiltrate the big top and incapacitate as many of his followers as we can without endangering lives."

"Hmm... what if we...?" Grayson seemed to be thinking hard, rubbing at his chin with one green gloved hand.

"Richard?" Kaldur questioned.

He grinned. "I think I have a plan. And call me Robin."

Robin, hu? Well it did suit his annoyingly bright green, red and yellow costume. Robin it was.

* * *

Step 1: Infiltrate

Normally stealth and Wally were a contradiction, but when he was moving so fast he was barely more than a gust of wind he transcended vision. Better yet, their objective was in a tent and it was a windy night; perfect cover. When Wally turned from his scouting mission they knew what they needed to know for this to work.

Splitting into groups of two, the team snuck back into the Big-top. Well two groups did, the one consisting of Aqualad and Superboy barged into the group gathered just outside, guns blazing (so to speak as they didn't actually have any guns or want to actually kill anyone). Zucco seemed to have far more goons that initially anticipated, but they'd mostly congregated in one place after Young Justice had evaded them. Kind of a stupid move even if there was strength in numbers.

As a distraction it worked like a charm.

Over the sounds of gunfire and shouting, no one heard the soft rattle of metal and ropes, or the rustle of canvas being shifted. Strategically speaking, a tent was one of the worst places to hole up. The various crates and cages made for easy hiding places, their normally less than stealthy costumes blending easily with the racks of brightly coloured outfits and abundant amounts of feathered props.

Step 2: Free the hostages.

The cages the animals were normally kept in would have been ideal places to keep all the captured Circus staff; that is if one of their rescuers didn't know where the spare keys were. Miss Martian slipped in, cloaked, rendering the guards unconscious swiftly and near silently. The keys jangled as she set about unlocking the prisoners, who in turn kept the animals in their cages. At least the tiger had been well fed before the show and was content to just sleep through the whole fiasco.

"Gramps isn't here!" Robin hissed, directing his extended family out the hole in the tent Artemis was holding up for them.

"He's with Zucco, out in the ring." Wally told them. "Mr Haley's the big cheese that refused to pay last time. It makes sense that he wants revenge on him the most. What he actually wants, though... I didn't stay long enough to hear anything that was going on-hey!"

Robin was already gone, running nimbly towards the main part of the tent. With a swear from Artemis, the others followed.

Zucco was pacing again, though his personal guard seemed to be on higher alert this time. A quick count confirmed there were only five of them in here, the rest either already outside or gone to help with battle still raging outside. The sight of him sent a cold fury burning through Dick, something almost uncontrollable.

"Zucco!" Robin didn't even try to hide himself, though the others strategically situated themselves around the tent unnoticed.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little baby bird. Didn't Mommy and Daddy ever teach you to respect your elders?"

With an inarticulate splutter of rage, the youth took two steps before halting as guns were cocked ready to fire.

The portly man wagged one chubby finger. "Uh, uh, ah; I don't think ya want to get any closer kid, otherwise you might have another 'accident' on your hands."

Theatrically the spotlights were turned on, throwing the man dangling from a rope by his legs some twenty meters from the grounds into startling relief. He looked to be unconscious, though from this distance he could have been anything.

"Let him go!" Insults eluded him, and all Dick could do was stare up at Mr Haley, wide eyed and frozen. "Let him go..." He pleaded, voice breaking.

Zucco laughed, a thunderous sound coming from somewhere deep in his belly. "Let 'im go? And waste all the effort I went to getting my boys to put him up there in the first place? I don't think so kiddo."

"What do you want!? Haven't you done enough to us?" The boy stomped a foot angrily and the men with guns shifted nervously, fingers twitching on triggers.

The mobster seemed to consider him for a few moments, looking him up and down. "Not much point holding out on ya any longer, eh? Alright, I'll tell you. I'm going to burn this place to the ground, with everyone in it. No more Haley's Circus, no more Haley." Zucco's expression morphed into a leer and he looked Dick up and down again. "I could be persuaded to save you, though. Such a young brat needs guidance. Of course nothing in life is free, you'd be expected to pay your way," he glanced down at the boy's crotch and licked his lips "if you know what I mean."

Robin couldn't stifle the loud, high pitched, disgusted growl that escaped his lips.

This only seemed to delight Zucco more. He snapped his fingers and two of his men began to advance. "I think I'll take you anyway. I always wanted a pet."

The war outside chose that moment to interfere, men exploding into the ring.

"Boss, these kids ain't human! They're killing us out there!" one of them yelled before Aqualad and Superboy followed them in, the latter sending him skidding across the floor where he didn't get up.

Robin jumped out of the way so he wasn't trampled by men twice his size. He watched Aqualad sweep the feet out from under three men, and Superboy throw several more. A shiver of fear took hold for one, glorious moment at the sheer power these youths held, before remembering that that was all they were – youths. People he had talked to, laughed with. They weren't invincible and they weren't above needing help.

The three superheros that had been hiding jumped into the fray, picking off men like flies. Megan seemed to be knocking out men with her mind! And Wally zipped around so fast Dick couldn't keep up with his movements. Artemis had blunt headed arrows going in rapid fire succession.

There was an undignified yelp under the sounds of the melee that drew Robin's attention. He scrambled through the crowd after Zucco who had reached the ladder leading up to one of the trapeze platforms. The man was by no means in peek physical form and he was struggling long before he reached his goal, but he had a considerable lead on the youth.

Zucco wasn't just going up there to escape the brawl; he was going to cut Gramps loose, he was going to kill Mr Haley!

Not entirely sure what he was going to do when he got up there, Dick redoubled his efforts, stopping just below the platform so he remained hidden for the moment. He could hear Zucco gasping for breath; see his pudgy sides poking out over the edge. It wasn't made for a man his size.

Looking down Dick noticed that almost all of Zucco's men had been incapacitated. The few that were left were either overcome with rage or were trying to escape and being picked off. That was it then, Zucco's plan had failed.

One thing left to do then; save Gramps!

Robin scaled the last few rungs of the ladder and pulled himself almost silently onto the long platform. Zucco had his back to him, fiddling with something and swearing under his breath. He made sure he had a good grip on the supports before speaking up. "Zucco!"

The man spun precariously, grabbing the railing with one hand and his chest with the other. The knife he'd been trying to cut the rope with clattered to the ground below, thankfully not landing on anyone. "S-stupid brat!" He panted. "Your parents died nice and quiet like; didn't give me nearly-nearly as much trouble while I was doing them in."

"Well maybe you should have just stayed in jail! Now come down quietly so we can send you back there."

Zucco didn't dignify that with an answer, though perhaps he couldn't have even if he wanted to. He did look awfully out of breath and was still clutching at his chest, sweating buckets. Dick was morbidly fascinated; that climb was nothing to him and the rest of his family.

He didn't have time to mull over Zucco's physical fitness, though. The rope had been cut most of the way through and was beginning to fray under Haley's weight. There was no one to help him up here now, no net to catch him should he fall.

Dick let the trapeze out; keeping a firm hold on it so it wouldn't drag him out under its superior weight. He'd never done a lone start before, usually having someone holding on to him until he was in position. There was no choice though; this was the only way to reach Gramps in time. The swing pulled at him and for a moment he thought he would be flung into the abyss before he had a good enough grip, but then he was flying through the air and everything was perfect! The air rushed about him and he could pretend it was his parents, caressing his face comfortingly. Dick allowed the distraction for less than a second before he began to work his feet, arching out wider to get closer to the rope suspending Mr Haley.

Zucco had started to climb down, but he had stopped still two thirds of the way up. He was panting and clutching the rungs for dear life. Dick couldn't take in any more than this, as his next swing brought him into range of the rope. Quickly he shifted, swapping his grip on the trapeze from hands to legs and reached out, snaring the rope with both hands. He jerked to a sudden stop, barely managing to keep his hold on both sides. His mask came loose, fluttering down to the floor far below.

Gramps was still unconscious and several feet lower. Dick didn't have time to wonder if he was strong enough. He had to be. With every ounce of strength he possessed, the youth began to pull the rope up, hand over hand. It was hard and his arms screamed in protest. Just holding people was far easier than pulling them up. It he could get Haley up to his hands he could keep a hold onto him as long as necessary.

Dick's eyes squeezed shut and he pulled and pulled until finally it was skin, not rope that his hand encountered. He fumbled trying to grab a hold of something, and almost dropped his precious cargo. Mr Haley groaned and Dick's heart leapt in joy and panic. There's another moment when he's sure they'll both plummet to their deaths but Gramps was quick on the uptake. He reached up, clasping his hands around Dick's wrists.

The battle below had ended. They were safe; everyone was safe. No one was going to die... Just as he thought this, though, there was a horrified scream from the ground, a girl's, and he looked over to see Zucco fall. Time seemed to slow down and backtrack. It wasn't Zucco falling but his parents; the clarity was alarming, devastating.

Feeling returned in a rush and he tightened his grip on Gramp's wrists. The man was saying something but he couldn't hear it over the roar in his ears. He wasn't entirely sure how they got down, but suddenly his feet were on the ground and moving under their own steam.

Zucco laid there, a pool of blood radiating from his head, hand still clutching at his chest; clawing. His eyes were wide, frozen in shock and fear, pain clinging to his features like frost. Everything overflowed then and Dick was on his knees, his fists raining down on that frozen face. He focused every bit of anger, sadness, despair, every negative emotion he had experienced since he was eight converging in his attack on a dead man.

It took him a while to realise he was yelling too. "-killed my parents! Destroyed my life! You were supposed to rot in jail for the rest of your life! Not take the easy way out! You weren't supposed to die! You were supposed to go to Jail! You were supposed to rot in Jail..." He broke off with a sob and gentle hands pried him from the corpse, pulling him into a hug.

Dick sobbed; clinging to the girl he'd only met that afternoon. She made soft, comforting noises and vaguely he realised she was green, even though he wasn't wearing his mask anymore, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to care. His parents were gone, their killer dead - things like green people were unimportant.

She didn't let him go, even after his tears stopped and his breathing slowed. She was singing now, though it was more in his head. He felt his emotions lift a little, the pain ease just enough and he allowed himself to be pulled down into blissful, mindless slumber.

* * *

The police arrived late, along with several ambulances. Blankets and hot drinks were handed out to those in shock, while statements were taken from anyone who had stuck around. The team lurked in the shadows, trying to keep an eye on their new friend, while staying off the radar. There were more than a few crooked cops looking to put away capes to get in good with the underworld.

"This was not a complete success." Kaldur murmured to his team. "We should not have allowed Zucco to die."

Artemis snorted, crossing her arms as she leaned against a tent support pole. "That's stating the obvious. Not that -I'm- sad to see him dead; the world's minus one more murderer."

"Artemis!" M'gann chastised, hands clasped below her chin and firmly folded in on herself. There was a lot of run-off emotions here and they kept threatening to overwhelm her.

"We'll just have to be better next time." Wally interrupted, for once being the one to shut down a fight before it began. He was staring intently at Richard Grayson, brow furrowed. There was a woman in a suit here now - not police or medical.

"What do you suppose will happen to him?" He asked abruptly.

M'gann whimpered as Grayson's expression morphed from annoyance to anger and fear. Superboy had to hold Wally back before he could jump out of their hiding place. There was an argument going on now.

Superboy frowned. "What's a social worker?" His education didn't cover this. Richard had a perfectly good family so why was he going to be taken away from them? "She's saying there will be legal repercussions for 'harbouring a ward of the state'. Isn't this the community he grew up in?"

There was a commotion then, somewhere off from the main body of people. Whispers began to spread like wildfire until a handsome and well dressed man walked into their field of vision. Seeming to remember she could, M'gann linked them all up mentally to spread their field of hearing.

The man's arrival cut off the argument between Richard Grayson, the social worker and Mr Haley. The adults seemed to fumble with themselves to greet him, though the boy remained unimpressed.

"Why Mr Wayne!" Twittered the social worker, clearly flirting. "What on earth could bring someone like you down to a crime scene of all places?"

They all got a distinctly impressed vibe from Wally and Artemis. This was someone important. Prince of Gotham, Billionaire, Playboy were supplied as a brief explanation.

"I've been a sponsor of Haley's circus for years." Replied Mr Wayne. "When I heard it had been attacked again I..." His voice caught and he cleared his throat, discreetly dabbing at damp eyes. Turning he seemed to notice Richard glaring up at him suspiciously. "This must be John and Mary's boy! Are you alright son? What's going on here?"

"I'm afraid the Grayson boy... well he's been labelled as missing for years. This circus has been harbouring him illegally, which, I'm afraid, is cause for legal action and may even escalate into kidnapping charges, even if he did run away from the facility we-"

"He came home is what he did!" Mr Haley interrupted, only to be silenced by a gesture from Mr Wayne.

Smiling his most charming smile, with just a little bit of a quiver, Mr Wayne turned his bright blue eyes on the unsuspecting Social Worker. "If there are any legal fees to be paid, I will gladly front them if it means the boy can stay with his family. That includes adoption fees, of course."

"I'm afraid the matter isn't quite that simple." She simpered, clearly trying not to upset someone with so much money and good looks.

"The hell it is!" Roared Mr Haley, who was again silenced by Mr Wayne.

She looked worried now, glancing occasionally at Mr Haley like he was going to attack her. "We simply cannot sanction an... organisation such as this one to even foster a child. There are too many questionable characters and situations he could end up in."

"Then I will take him in." There as an expression of wonder on Wayne's face, like a child who had worked something important out for themselves. "He can visit the circus during holidays, accompanied my myself or my Gentleman's Gentleman, of course." He turned to Richard then, kneeling down so he could be at the same level as the boy who was sitting in the back of an ambulance wrapped in a thermo blanket. "I know it's not ideal, but I'll make sure you get a great education and I can set up a gym in one of the unused ballrooms back home and you'll like Alfred. Besides..." Leaning down he whispered something into the boy's ear, looking serious for so short a moment that one would think they imagined it.

There was a long minute of silence while Richard debated, then finally he pulled his legs up to his chest. "I suppose it's better than hitchhiking to Kansas again...and I'll still get to see you Gramps, and Bee and the others..."

"Well then, if everything's settled." Wayne stood and clapped a hand on his new Ward's shoulder, prompting him to get to his feet. "Let's go downtown and sort out all this hubbub."

Looking bewildered, the social worker and Mr Haley both followed as Bruce Wayne marched them all out of view.

"Is it sensible to have him stay in Gotham?" M'gann asked out loud.

"Are you kidding, that was Bruce Wayne! He's got enough money to keep anyone safe." Wally looked a lot less stressed now.

"Doesn't money make someone more of a target?" Superboy asked.

"I think." Kaldur interrupted. "We should return to scouting the area. We do not know if everyone involved has been apprehended."

Without another word they split up again to scour the grounds for any remaining bad guys.

* * *

"Another new member? I swear if it's not Speedy-"

"You better be nicer to the new guy than you are to me Flash Boy or my arrows will have a new target."

"Silence, both of you."

"Oh I hope they have a good sense of humour, we need that around here!"

The gate activated and it was Batman who walked through first. They all looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of their new member. Batman had been very vague on the details. It wasn't until he stopped in the middle of the room that his bulk stopped hiding the lithe boy behind him. A mop of untidy black hair flanked a cheeky looking face

"I've heard of you." Superboy said, crossing his arms and looking the boy up and down appraisingly. "Robin."

M'gann tilted her head to the side. "You know you look familiar. Oh - OH!"

Robin grinned and help out his hand. "Robin. Nice to meet you."

They all rushed to greet him.


End file.
